The US could opt for a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, Trump says. “They have no money, no oil, no food. They want our help”
Donald Trump in the White House. Photo credit: Shealah Craighead / Zuma Press / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States could opt for a “friendly takeover of Cuba”, in the context of tensions with this island due to the energy blockade imposed by Washington.
“They don't have anything at the moment, but they are talking to us and maybe we will have a friendly takeover of control over Cuba. We could reach a friendly takeover of control over Cuba after many, many years,” the American president told journalists at the White House, before leaving for Texas for a rally, write EFE and Agerpres.
Donald Trump assured that Cuba is in a “serious situation” and that the US could do something “very positive” for Cuban citizens in exile and those still living in the country.
“I've been hearing about Cuba since I was little. Everybody wanted a change and I can see that happening,” President Trump said, adding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was “dealing with it.”
“As you know, they don't have money, they don't have oil, they don't have food. And right now it's a nation in serious trouble and they want our help,” he said.
His remarks come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Havana over the island's oil embargo and just days after Cuba's operation against a boat from Florida that allegedly violated its territorial waters and which the authorities opened fire on, killing four crew members. At least one of the four dead and one of the six injured were US citizens, while the rest may be legal permanent residents.
In January, after the operation in Venezuela in which President Nicolas Maduro, an ally of Havana, was captured, Cuba lost access to Venezuelan oil, and President Trump ordered the imposition of tariffs on countries supplying the island's crude oil, exacerbating the country's worst economic and social crisis since 1959.
Marco Rubio talks with Rodriguez Castro
However, on Wednesday the US government eased the oil embargo on Cuba and authorized the export of Venezuelan crude to the island with certain restrictions and through the private sector.
According to the Miami Herald, US officials close to Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Wednesday with Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban leader Raul Castro, on the sidelines of the Caricom summit, reports AFP.
Rodriguez Castro does not hold official positions within the Cuban government, but is considered an influential figure on the island.
Axios reported last week that Marco Rubio, who was born in the US but whose parents are of Cuban descent, had exchanged views with Rodriguez Castro, thus bypassing the government in Havana.
